This paper represents a feedback artificial immune system (FAIS). Inspired by the feedback mechanisms in the biological immune system, the proposed algorithm effectively manipulates the population size by increasing and decreasing B cells according to the diversity of the current population. Two kinds of assessments are used to evaluate the diversity aiming to capture the characteristics of the problem on hand. Furthermore, the processing of adding and declining the number of population is designed. The validity of the proposed algorithm is tested for several traveling salesman benchmark problems. Simulation results demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed algorithm when compared with the traditional genetic algorithm and an improved clonal selection algorithm.

This paper presents a new multi-layered artificial immune system architecture using the ideas generated from the biological immune system for solving combinatorial optimization problems. The proposed methodology is composed of five layers. After expressing the problem as a suitable representation in the first layer, the search space and the features of the problem are estimated and extracted in the second and third layers, respectively. Through taking advantage of the minimized search space from estimation and the heuristic information from extraction, the antibodies (or solutions) are evolved in the fourth layer and finally the fittest antibody is exported. In order to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed system, the graph planarization problem is tested. Simulation results based on several benchmark instances show that the proposed algorithm performs better than traditional algorithms.

It is known that Boolean functions used in stream ciphers should have good cryptographic properties to resist fast algebraic attacks. In this paper, we study a new class of Boolean functions with good cryptographic properties: balancedness, optimum algebraic degree, optimum algebraic immunity and a high nonlinearity.

A critical problem after a natural/manmade disaster is to provide immediate post-disaster communication links between the disaster victims and some overlay networks. This paper proposes a novel scheme that uses the surviving Mobile handSets (MS) as sensing nodes to form an auto-configured Hierarchical Cognitive Radio Network (H-CRN). The implementation of this H-CRN is explained through detailed problem scenario statement and step-by-step implementation of automatic identification of emergency situation by the MS nodes. An overview of the cross-layer framework used by the MS nodes is also presented. This novel scheme is tested through some hypothesis along with probability calculations for successful identification of emergency situation, formation of ad hoc group and Emergency Beacon Message (EBM) transmission.

This paper proposes a novel RBF training algorithm based on immune operations for dynamic problem solving. The algorithm takes inspiration from the dynamic nature of natural immune system and locally-tuned structure of RBF neural network. Through immune operations of vaccination and immune response, the RBF network can dynamically adapt to environments according to changes in the training set. Simulation results demonstrate that RBF equalizer based on the proposed algorithm obtains good performance in nonlinear time-varying channels.

A new readout integrated circuit is developed for application in an amorphous silicon-based microbolometer array with a pixel pitch of 35 µm. The proposed circuit lowers the power dissipation for a pixel-level analog-to-digital converter (ADC), which uses a comparator and a counter for its data conversion. The infrared current of a microbolometer is proportional to the resistivity changes of the microbolometer. Thus, the required number of counter operations for the pixel ADC can be determined according to the microbolometer current variation. The counting number precisely determines how much infrared flux is absorbed. A 14 bit counter should normally be used for the pixel ADC for this kind of operation. However, when the proposed current skimming scheme is adopted, the total bits for the counter in the pixel ADC can be reduced to 12 bits. Due to the proposed mechanism, the required operational speed of the comparator can lower than that of a conventional circuit. Consequently, the overall power dissipation in the comparator and counter is less than that of a conventional structure. This low power approach is very suitable in the pixel-level ADCs of microbolometers.

With proliferation of smart handsets capable of mobile Internet, the severity of malware attacks targeting such handsets is rapidly increasing, thereby requiring effective countermeasure for them. However, existing signature-based solutions are not suitable for resource-poor handsets due to the excessive run-time overhead of matching against ever-increasing malware pattern database as well as the limitation of detecting well-known malware only. To overcome these drawbacks, we present a bio-inspired approach to discriminate malware (non-self) from normal programs (self) by replicating the processes of biological immune system. Our proposed approach achieves superior performance in terms of detecting 83.7% of new malware or their variants and scalable storage requirement that grows very slowly with inclusion of new malware, making it attractive for use with mobile handsets.

The superconducting band-pass filter has small insertion loss and excellent out-of-band rejection properties. It has been put to practical use in a number of applications. However, in order to expand its range of application, a tuning technique that can restore the filter characteristics is needed. We propose an automatic tuning system using a trimming library and checked the feasibility of the system by tuning a forward-coupled filter with three resonators. The results show that the trimming library method is an effective way of automatically improving the filter characteristics.

Liquid-phase detection of biological targets utilizing magnetic marker and superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetometer is shown. In this method, magnetic markers are coupled to the biological targets, and the binding reaction between them is detected by measuring the magnetic signal from the bound markers. Detection can be done in the liquid phase, i.e., we can detect only the bound markers even in the presence of unbound (free) markers. Since the detection principle is based on the different magnetic properties between the free and bound markers, we clarified the Brownian relaxation of the free markers and the Neel relaxation of the bound markers. Usefulness of the present method is demonstrated from the detection of the biological targets, such as biotin-coated polymer beads, IgE and Candida albicans.

This paper introduces a theory for fast optimization of the circuit topology and parameters in sinusoidal oscillators. The theory starts from a system model composed of standard active and passive elements. We then include even the output load in the circuit, so that there is no longer any interaction with the outside of the system through the port. This model is thus called no-input-no-output (NINO) oscillator. The circuit is cut at an arbitrary branch, and is characterized in terms of the scalar impedance from the cut point. This is called active impedance because it is a function of not only the stimulating frequency but also the active device gain. The oscillation frequency and necessary device gain are estimated by solving impedance-domain Barkhausen equilibrium equations. This estimation works for the adjustment of circuit elements to meet the specified oscillation frequency. The estimation of necessary device gain enables us to maximize the oscillation amplitude, thanks to the inherent negative-slope nonlinearity of active devices. The active impedance is also used to derive the oscillation Q (quality) factor, which serves as a key criterion for sideband noise minimization i.e. frequency spectrum purification. As an alternative measure to active impedance, we also introduce branch admittance matrix determinant. This has the same numerical effect as the scalar impedance but can be used to formulate oscillator characteristics in a more elegant fashion, and provides a lucent picture of the physical behavior of each element in the circuit. Based on the proposed theory, we provide the tabled formulas of oscillation frequency, necessary device gain, active Q factor for a variety of typical Colpitts, Hartley, and cross-coupled twin-FET (field-effect transistor) oscillators.

Automatic adjustment methods for efficient, precise positioning and release of a virtual 3D object by direct hand manipulation in an immersive virtual reality environment are described and evaluated. The proposed methods are release adjustment, position adjustment, viewpoint adjustment, and virtual hand size adjustment. Combining these methods enables users to manipulate a virtual object efficiently and precisely. An experimental evaluation showed that these methods were effective and useful in terms of the number of task completions and the subjective preference, particularly for a small virtual target.

"Dive into the Movie (DIM)" is a name of project to aim to realize a world innovative entertainment system which can provide an immersion experience into the story by giving a chance to audience to share an impression with his family or friends by watching a movie in which all audience can participate in the story as movie casts. To realize this system, several techniques to model and capture the personal characteristics instantly in face, body, gesture, hair and voice by combining computer graphics, computer vision and speech signal processing technique. Anyway, all of the modeling, casting, character synthesis, rendering and compositing processes have to be performed on real-time without any operator. In this paper, first a novel entertainment system, Future Cast System (FCS), is introduced which can create DIM movie with audience's participation by replacing the original roles' face in a pre-created CG movie with audiences' own highly realistic 3D CG faces. Then the effects of DIM movie on audience experience are evaluated subjectively. The result suggests that most of the participants are seeking for higher realism, impression and satisfaction by replacing not only face part but also body, hair and voice. The first experimental trial demonstration of FCS was performed at the Mitsui-Toshiba pavilion of the 2005 World Exposition in Aichi Japan. Then, 1,640,000 people have experienced this event during 6 months of exhibition and FCS became one of the most popular events at Expo.2005.

Impacts of electromagnetic (EM) interference (immunity) on operation of LSI circuits in a QFP-packaged and PCB-mounted environment are studied. EM power injection to a power-supply system leads to malfunction, where the power is translated into voltage bounces through combined on- and off- chip impedances, affecting power supply and ground, as well as signal nodes in a die, seen from on-chip waveform measurements. A lumped power-supply impedance model and the minimum amplitude of voltage bounce induced by EM power for malfunction, both of which can be derived from external measurements to a given packaged LSI, formulate an EM interference model that is helpful in the PCB design toward high immunity. The technique can be generally applied to systems-on-chip applications.

In optical burst switching (OBS) networks, burst with different numbers of hops experience unfairness in terms of the burst loss probability. In this paper, we propose a preemptive scheme based on the number of transit hops in OBS networks. In our proposed scheme, preemption is performed with two thresholds; one is for the total number of hops of a burst and the other is for the number of transit hops the burst has passed through. We evaluate the performance of the scheme by simulation, and numerical examples show that the proposed scheme improves the fairness among the bursts with different numbers of hops, keeping the overall burst loss probability the same as that for the conventional OBS transmission without preemption.

Data detection based on self organizing maps is presented for hematopoietic tumor patients. Learning data for the maps are generated from the screening data of examinees. The incomplete screening data without some item values is then supplemented by substituting averaged non-missing item values. In addition, redundant items, which are common to all the data and tend to have an unfavorable influence on data detection, are eliminated by a genetic algorithm and/or an immune algorithm. It is basically judged, by observing the label of a winner neuron in the map, whether the data presented to the map belongs to the class of hematopoietic tumors. Some experimental results are provided to show that the proposed methods achieve the high probability of correctly identifying examinees as hematopoietic tumor patients.

A new radio-frequency (RF) radiated immunity/susceptibility test method using four-septum TEM cell is proposed. A rotating-EM field can be generated inside the cell by feeding four-different RF DSB-SC signals to four septa arranged in the cell. Since a polarization plane of the rotating-EM field rotates in a low speed, the immunity/susceptibility test for the EM field with various polarizations can be conducted more easily. In this paper, a technique for generating the rotating-EM field in the cell is investigated. The basic characteristics of the cell and the rotating-EM field by using the technique are clarified. To verify the validity of this test method, a RF radiated susceptibility of a printed circuit board is measured. The measured results are verified by comparing with the theoretical results based on modified telegrapher's equations.

In this paper, we propose a new preemptive scheme with release message in optical burst switching (OBS) networks. In the proposed scheme, when a low priority burst is preempted at some intermediate node, two RELEASE messages are sent immediately from the intermediate node to both source and destination nodes (two-way release message transmission), and the RELEASE messages release the corresponding wavelengths for the preempted burst. We consider six wavelength selection rules for the preemption and evaluate the performances of the selection rules by simulations. Numerical examples show that our scheme utilizes wavelengths effectively and, with the optimal selection rule, can decrease the burst loss probability in a large-scale DWDM network.

An interference prediction scheme is proposed for power control in packet-switched TDMA wireless networks. The prediction scheme is based on the interacting multiple model (IMM) estimator, and it is effective to a wide range of nonstationary dynamic characteristics of the interference power. Numerical experiments show that, compared with a scheme based on a Kalman filter, the IMM estimator-based scheme predicts the interference power more accurately and allows us to adjust the transmit power more efficiently in achieving a desired level of signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR).

In this letter, we propose a new approach to estimate the degree of noise masking based on a sophisticated model for clean speech distribution. This measure, named as noise masking probability (NMP), is incorporated into the feature compensation technique to achieve robust speech recognition in noisy environments. Experimental results show that the proposed approach improves the performance of the baseline recognition system in the presence of various background noises.

CMOS poly-Si thin-film transistors (TFTs) were fabricated through crystallization and GILD processes by a novel selected area laser assisted (SALA) system. The system enables a local area irradiation of small beams of a pulsed solid-state laser of frequency tripled Nd:YAG. The novel TFT process eliminated 3 doping mask steps of the conventional process. On-off current ratios for both types of poly-Si TFTs were improved by SALA. The field effect mobility of n- and p-channel TFTs is 84 cm2/Vs and 75 cm2/Vs, respectively.